Wetland Ecosystem Sustainability Over Human Wildlife Conflict in and Around Lakhpat Taluka, Kachchh District, India Ajoy Das, Sh
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www.thematicpublication.com ISSN 2277-2995 Wetland ecosystem sustainability over human wildlife conflict in and around Lakhpat taluka, Kachchh district, India 1Ajoy Das, 2Shital H. Shukla, 3Pankaj N. Joshi, 4Pradeep P. Prajapati 1Cartographer and Research scholar, Department of Geography, School of Sciences, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad-380009, Gujarat, India. 2Associate Professor & Head, Department of Geography, School of Sciences, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad-380009, Gujarat, India. 3Executive Director, Sahjeevan, Bhuj- 370001, Kachchh, India. 4 Professor & Dean, Department of Economics, School of Social Sciences, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad-380009, Gujarat, India. Abstract Ecological diversity on a global scale would be the variation in ecosystems, such as forests, grasslands, deserts, wetlands, and oceans. Ecosystem sustainability is the ability of an ecosystem to maintain a balanced state, even after a stress or disturbance has occurred due to the human-wildlife conflict around any region. The conflict zones of wetland ecosystem are increasing day by day. It was observed that in this mixed thorn forest habitat area is very significant where maximum species comes under the threatened category. This study attempts to identify bioregion and threatened region by using multi criteria-based model through geospatial technology. The major cause for the loss of floral diversity is habitat disintegrations. Some threatened floral species are identified in the region like Limonium stocksii, Dipcadi erythraeum, Talinum portulacifolium, Indigofera caerulea var. monosperma and Ipomoea kotschyana, Commiphora wightii, Helicrysum cutchicum, Convolvulus stockii and Heliotropium rariflorum. Invasion of Prosopis juliflora in other thorn forest area is still going and they are facing the problem of habitat disintegration. Threatened birds were observed like, Parus nuchalis, Pelecenus crispus, Ardeotis nigriceps, Sypheopides indica, Aythya nyroca and Aquila heliaca, Chlamydotis undulate. Five species of reptiles observed from the IUCN list (Molur and Walker, 1998) Sara hardwickii, Echis carinatus, Cytrodactylus kacchensis, Varanus bengalensis, Coelognathus helena. From this region five threatened species of mamals observed also i.e. Canis lupus, Vulpes bengalensis, Hyaena hyaena, Panthera pardus, Felis silvestris, Felis chaus, Viverricula indica (Pardeshi et. al. 2010). Ecosystem of this region affecting due to the temporal variation in climate, change in physiological set up and legal and illegal mining by the people also. As a result, the present status of all the wetlands and its ecosystem either disturbed or in critical stage due to human conflict. This area needs immediate measures to form a suitable habitat zone for the wild animals. Key words: 1.Biodiversity, 2.Conservation, 3.Habitat, 4.Invasive species, 5.Natural Resources, 6.Wetland. Introduction Kachchh district has highest wetland (51.72%) area among the all district of the Gujarat state. This study found a remarkable change in the wetlands after the year 2003 and again after 2010. Ecosystem stability is the ability of an ecosystem to maintain a balanced state, even after a stress or disturbance has occurred due to the human-wildlife conflict around any region to maintain its sustainability. Lakhpat taluka had a great correlation of both flora and fauna species which were distributed around the region by its own nature. The conflict zones are increasing day by day around the wetland ecosystem areas with human intervention. Kachchh district is believed as a biosphere reserve for its wildlife and plant ecosystem. It was observed that mixed thorn forest habitat area is a preservation substantial habitat area which defines maximum species comes under the threatened category. The major cause for the loss of floral diversity is habitat disintegrations. Some threatened floral species are identified in the region Limonium stocksii, Dipcadi erythraeum, Talinum portulacifolium, Indigofera caerulea var. monosperma and Ipomoea kotschyana, Commiphora wightii, Helicrysum cutchicum, Convolvulus stockii and Heliotropium rariflorum (Patel et. al. 2018). Invasion of Prosopis juliflora in other thorn forest area is still going and they are facing the problem of habitat disintegration. As per the published report wetland habitat accepting only three threatened species i.e. Ammania desertorum, Dipacdi erythraeum, Ipomoea kotschyana, has high preservation substantial. Including this Limonium stocki and Talinum portulacifolium which were suggested preservation of their habitat for the survival (Patel et. al. 2018). Threatened birds were observed like, Parus nuchalis, Pelecenus crispus (Dalmaian pelican), Ardeotis nigriceps (Great Indian Bustard), Sypheopides indica (Lesser Florican), Aythya nyroca (Ferruginous poachard) and Aquila heliaca (Imperial eagle), Chlamydotis undulate (Houbara Bustard). Five species of reptiles observed from the IUCN list (Molur and Walker, 1998) Sara hardwickii (Spiny-Tailed Lizard), Echis carinatus (Indian Saw-Scaled Viper), Cytrodactylus kacchensis (Banded Rock Gecko), Varanus bengalensis (Common Indian Monitor), Coelognathus helena (Common Indian Trinklet Snake). From 414 Thematics Journal of Geography Volume 8 Number 4 October 2019 www.thematicpublication.com ISSN 2277-2995 this region five species of mamals observed also i.e. Canis lupus (Indian Wolf), Vulpes bengalensis (Indian Fox), Hyaena hyaena (Striped Hyena), Panthera pardus (Common Leopard), Felis silvestris (Desert Cat), Felis chaus (Jungle Cat), Viverricula indica (Small Indian Civet) by Pardeshi et. al. 2010. Location of the study area: The Kachchh Peninsula located between 22° 44' 8'' to 24° 41' 30'' North latitude and 68° 7' 23'' and 71° 46' 45" East, forms the western most part of India and constitutes the Kachchh district of Gujarat State. This district has occupied 45652 sq.km area of Gujarat state. This district has 10 talukas namely Bhuj, Gandhidham, Anjar, Rapar, Mandvi, Bhachau, Mundra, Nakhtrana, Abdasa and Lakhpat. Lakhpat taluka of Kachchh district has been selected as a representative for this research. Lakhpat taluka is recorded with last conserve tropical thorn forest in our country, with having Narayan Wild Life Sanctuary and many Reserve Forests, which are very significant for unique biodiversity. Lakhpat taluka is also recorded with maximum deposition of minerals including lignite, which is economically very rich resource. So, for better planning on utilization of natural resources (including the wet-land areas) and biodiversity conservation in this taluka, this study is very beneficial. On the other hand, there is an urgency to plan industrialization and other developmental activities. The geographical extension of this taluka is 23° 24'N to 23° 50' North Latitude and 68° 25'E and 69° 12' East Longitude. Figure No. 1: Location Map of Lakhpat taluka, Kachchh District, Gujarat, India Review of literature As per the notification dated 31st May, 2012 of ministry of Environment and Forest, New Delhi S.O. 1257(E) stated that “The Narayan Sarovar Wildlife Sanctuary falls under a separate biotic province of the country and represents a distinct gene pool of Indian region which possess abundant grass land, coastal areas with dense patches of mangrove forests, partial wetland due to the coast line and around 45 lentic wetlands of varying sizes and it provides home to many rare and threatened species like Chinkara, Caracal, Wolf, Leopard, Spiny tailed Lizard, Desert Cat, Great Indian Bustard, Lesser Floricon, Houbara Bustard etc. This area is relatively very rich in minerals like Lignite, Lime Stone, Bentonite and bauxite. So, the ministry has declared the Narayan Sarovar Wildlife Sanctuary area as Eco-sensitive Zone from the ecological and environmental point of view to conserve and protect the area around the protected area defined by the Ministry”. International Status: Warner B.G. (2006), “Knowledge Gaps and Challenges in Wetlands under Climate Change in Canada”, in his research had shown the wetland threatened biodiversity in different parts of Canada. As per the notification from Ministry of Environment and Forest the mining activities were stopped. At present the scenario defines that the ecological sensitive zone has more problems which are needed to solve. Durate et al. (2018) in their research justified that the freshwater ecosystems are facing most endangered environments in the world and affected at multiple scales by the surrounding 415 Thematics Journal of Geography Volume 8 Number 4 October 2019 www.thematicpublication.com ISSN 2277-2995 landscape with the different infrastructural human activities. As per their study it is highly recommended that the ecosystem of fresh waterbodies requires conservation and management. The methods and models they applied as River Network Toolkit (RivTool) for analyzing the different types of hierarchical river network which is associated by the surrounding landscape. Marull (2015), described the application of an intermediate disturbance complexity approach to land-use change using ecological functionality as a proxy of biodiversity. A landscape approach allows consideration of the results of integration of environmental, economic, and social systems in time and space and the more general process of ‘‘environ-mental bio-diversification’’ that influences environmental resources (Agnoletti 2014). It is also one of the major facts that the diversity of a unit area will affect the wildlife habitat of the ‘Landscape and biocultural diversity’ (Agnoletti,